Some state workforce agencies are only just beginning to resume payments after Congress stopped and restarted federal programs in December. Really inefficient to continually reauthorize these programs for short time periods.
@RonWyden says no: “The package outlined by 10 Senate Republicans is far too small to provide the relief the American people need. In particular, a three-month extension of jobless benefits is a non-starter.”
“Many states still have not gotten benefits out the door after Donald Trump’s tantrum in December caused them to lapse, and we’re facing another cliff in just six weeks. We can’t keep jumping from cliff to cliff every few months.”
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Joe Biden's campaign website said he would "work with Congress to extend the boosted unemployment benefits (the extra $600) for however long this crisis lasts."
Several unemployed workers I've talked to are also looking for backdated benefits to make up for weeks with no federal supplement.
Congressional Dems had that in their plans last year but the idea appears to be completely off the table now.
It appears that Mitch McConnell is filibustering a Senate organizing resolution so that he may later filibuster more things Senate Democrats might do huffpost.com/entry/filibust…
not even Joe Manchin is pleased with the filibuster filibuster, @igorbobic reports:
“Chuck has the right to do what he’s doing. He has the right to use that to leverage in whatever he wants to do. I’m not worried about that at all."
looks like Chuck Schumer is going to have to become a filibuster filibuster buster
Sherrod Brown (D-OH) asks Janet Yellen if Congress passed an advance monthly child tax credit, would she be on board with getting those monthly checks out ASAP.
"I'll try to get it implemented as fast as possible"
Michael Bennet (D-Col), co-sponsor of advance monthly CTC bill: "if this manages to make it thru Congress we will have cut child poverty by 45%," calls child poverty a "crisis" 👀
Senator John Thune (R-SD) tells Janet Yellen he is concerned about the "massive amount of debt that we continue to rack up" and says "we seem to have no concern" about it
🤔
James Lankford (R-OK) asks Yellen what metric signals debt it too high.
She says there's no single metric but one to watch is the interest burden of the debt as a share of GDP.
Lankford says we need an earlier warning sign than that. 🧐
Rob Portman (R-Ohio) warns against getting "too comfortable" with low interest rates, asks Yellen to be "voice of fiscal sanity within the administration."
That's a vote that basically says hey, those rioters had a point!
Pretty sick!
Mitch McConnell sized up the stakes of that vote pretty well:
"We cannot simply declare ourselves a national board of elections on steroids. The voters, the courts, and the States have all spoken. They have all spoken. If we overrule them, it would damage our Republic forever."
If Congress decides that it was really weird and bad for some of its members to pander to a violent rioting mob then Congress can vote to kick those members out. Doing so is very constitutional. huffpost.com/entry/josh-haw…
Several Democrats have called for Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz to resign. Sherrod Brown said they should be expelled if they won't step down.
Expulsion requires a 2/3 majority vote though.
Dem leaders are preoccupied with impeachment this week.
No magic formula here!
"Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member."